@dorrity -
Well, there are these examples throughout history, past and present, where an opinion of another country's atrocities might be of American interest:
1) The Japanese invasion of Asia, circa WWI-II
2) The German invasion of Europe, WWII
3) The Holocaust
4) The Cambodian genocide
5) Stalin's purge of Russia
6) Mao's purge of China
7) The current situations in Lybia, Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, et al.
8) The SLORC Junta in Burma.
9) The exile of the Dalai Lama and the destruction of Tibet
10) The human rights violations of many of the aforementioned countries, as well as a great many on the African continent (Sudan, Zimbabwe, etc.)
11) The nuclear ambition of Kim Jong-Il, not to mention the entire destruction of the North Korean people.
12) Al-Queda, The Taliban, and the rise of fascist theocracy in the middle east.
13) Italian fascism, WWII
14) The Turkish genocide in Armenia, WWI
15) The rights of the Basque and Catalan independence movements in Spain, as well as the Irish.
16) Apartheid in South Africa, which continues unoffically
17) the, yes, drug war in Mexico and Latin America
I could go on and on and on. Your question seems to assume America should have no interest in her allies, in her assertion that we will stand by other nations we've pledged loyalty towards and expect that same loyalty in return. We aren't Switzerland. A number of people might like to see us as an isolationist nation, but I think one cannot build an international cooperative based on trade alone.
Isn't it appropriate for Americans to speak out against international atrocities whether or NOT the affect America directly? If not, why not? It involves more than just being a tourist and whether one's own immediate livelihood is at stake. To withdraw any kind of moral pledge to people in desperate need is kind of a sick cynical attitude, no? Remember, if we hadn't helped Europe and the rest of Asia in WWII, there would probably be two world languages as of right now: Japanese and German.
I'd consider this before making sweeping statements about isolationism. Two cents.
"There is no inner peace. There is only nervousness and death." - Fran Lebowitz
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